[MD] are theism and mysticism mutually exclusive notions?

[Heather Perella]

Hello dmb,


     [dmb]
> As I understand it, 
> theism makes claims that can't be verified while
> philosophical mysticism is 
> empirically based... This is exactly my problem 
> with theism; it makes claims about a supernatural
> being that is beyond human 
> experience while philosophical mysticism does not.

     Also, dmb, would you say that theism is more
static due to an orthodoxy that must be followed. 
Changes have occurred since Christ, for instance, lots
of debating and final results, yet, many sects of
Christianity still.  To go back in history even more,
the age old Abraham is a orientation point for
spiritual lineages of Islam, Christianity, and Jewish.
 Theism is also large scale, in population numbers, as
to how many people belong to any theistic sect. 
Philosophical mysticism (PMy) accepts what we would
call dq, but in other words, PMy notices what Christ
noticed, accepts what all shamans have noticed that
definitions are guides, and the use of parables point
the Way, yet, in the end, as in the beginning, we must
all live life, breath life, and notice the spiritual
in our own lives.  This might be too Protestant, not
that I am a Protestant, yet, they did take that first
step in the theistic religions, meaning large
populations of people began to recognize, that the
Catholic Church and Catholic priests were being
hypocritical.  The church priests advocated following
Christ, yet, they set-up the Path to go not directly
to Christ, but through them (church and priests). 
This idea goes way back.  Culture in its very depth is
an organizational skill humans have so we recognize
what others are doing.  Yet, PMy has a Way of not only
being culturally minded (having static patterns that
groups of people may recognize), but also, PMy would
allow enough dq that we can still be individually
creative, rely on our own spontaneous dreams, and
notions that whenever we walk in the woods we don't
have to go back to any specific authority to check if
we are right or wrong in what we experienced.

SA
     

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